Show Your Dash Board Mods

[Plymouthy Adams]

whatever floats your boat is all I can say to that...talk about your exercise in "because I can"  is George a Shriner?..if not he sure missed his calling

Edited July 10, 2013 by Plymouthy Adams

[knuckleharley]

The mopar ones were not 45RPM. They were a unique speed something like 18rpm. Finding a 45 isn't that hard. I probably have 150 of them.

 

The mopar ones were not 45RPM. They were a unique speed something like 18rpm. Finding a 45 isn't that hard. I probably have 150 of them.

Really? I had always thought they were 45's. No wonder they didn't sell many of them. Nowhere to buy records to play.

[Young Ed]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_Hi-Fi

 

16 2/3 RPM I was close........

[nates1947]

mrwrstory your tach looks good up there!

 

Please ingnore my crusty chrome but here's my gauges.  The dash is painted black and I have done a rattle can resto on the radio.  I took the crusty old ignition and knob panel that hangs under the radio from the box o parts my uncle was scrapping with the car and re-purposed it as a switch panel too. 

[NC48BCoupe]

i kept the original shape and features but completely disassembled every part, polished all the chrome and for a bit of a classy/ edgy touch.....added a little gator skin accent. 

[BobT-47P15]

Some nice looking dashes there guys........ 

[Plymouthy Adams]

No picture yet by my latest modification did allow me to remote mount my stereo display in the dash...I did not want to lock the tabs and snap the bezel in place till final buttoning up.  But I am quite pleased with the new stereo unit...I powered it up in the game room and did a check out of the speakers and such and remote controller etc.  It filled that room nicely with sound..am sure it will blow me out of the coupe should I turn it up...

[Oldguy48]

Here's a pic of mine. The picture didn't come out so well, because I kept getting glare from the flash. However, I've never claimed to be a photographer. Anyway, the gauges aren't all operational yet, but that's a project for another day. Besides the digital gauges, I installed LED indicators in the speedometer face for gear indicators. They connect to a "Dakota Digital" controller module to illuminate the correct LED.

Wayne

[mrwrstory]

Finally got the pics I promised of the 42 Studebaker dash.  Oldguy is apparently already there.  Pretty much what I invisioned.  

Very cool!  Dakota Digital gauges????  Anxious to see the gear indicators.

[Oldguy48]

Finally got the pics I promised of the 42 Studebaker dash.  Oldguy is apparently already there.  Pretty much what I invisioned.  

Very cool!  Dakota Digital gauges????  Anxious to see the gear indicators.

wrstory,

The "gauges" are digital voltmeters that just happen to fit perfectly in the instrument cluster. The "Voltmeter" is operational, but I need to figure out some circuitry to make the other "gauges" indicate temperature, oil pressure, and fuel level. I just haven't put any priority on it yet because I also installed some other gauges for those indications until I can get the digital ones working. The "gauges" are not Dakota Digital...just the control module for the LED indicators. And the LEDs are just common ones I purchased on-line. They are powered by a 5 volt regulator, and each has a potentiometer in series with it to adjust the current/brightness. Blue for 1st, orange for 2nd, green for drive, red for reverse, and white for park & neutral. The Dakota Digital module just provides a current path to ground for each LED when the transmission is shifted.

Nice set-up in the Stude...I like it.

Wayne

Edited July 13, 2013 by Oldguy48

[Plymouthy Adams]

Though I had mocked this up with an old rather pitted panel earlier, today I made the call and cut the re-plated center grill and kept my NOS panel in the box...the radio display head does not invade the dash area at all as it is flush with the speaker mounting surface at the rear...this has allowed me to have finger tip control and visual of the display at all times which is great as I had zero room for a in dash install due to the AC/HTR Defroster unit I also have placed in the car.

Edited July 13, 2013 by Plymouthy Adams

[Alshere59]

wrstory,

The "gauges" are digital voltmeters that just happen to fit perfectly in the instrument cluster. The "Voltmeter" is operational, but I need to figure out some circuitry to make the other "gauges" indicate temperature, oil pressure, and fuel level. I just haven't put any priority on it yet because I also installed some other gauges for those indications until I can get the digital ones working. The "gauges" are not Dakota Digital...just the control module for the LED indicators. And the LEDs are just common ones I purchased on-line. They are powered by a 5 volt regulator, and each has a potentiometer in series with it to adjust the current/brightness. Blue for 1st, orange for 2nd, green for drive, red for reverse, and white for park & neutral. The Dakota Digital module just provides a current path to ground for each LED when the transmission is shifted.

Nice set-up in the Stude...I like it.

Wayne

 

Wayne

 

Can you run a potentiometer on the Dakota module to control the brightness for all of your gauges at one time? Seems like all you would have to do is find the path to ground it is using. You could get a dual gang unit and add your dash lights as well. Anyway just throwing it out there.

 

Al

[Oldguy48]

Al,

In my case, the different color LEDs do not all have exactly the same current requirements, hence the individual potentiometers to allow tweaking each one. If all the LEDs were identical, a common potentiometer would work just fine.

Wayne

[Alshere59]

Thank you for the info. I thought once they were balanced (with the individual pots0 you could dim or brighten from a single. I guess if you go to low they wouldn't function.

[Plymouthy Adams]

_{digitals are usually set up for as step where two voltage are used...one for daylight use (brighter) and the dimmer setting as controlled by the headlight switch to put them on dimmer for night driving...ideal for the P15/D24 two position controller..anything more modern would emulate the controls of the later switch that is variable, day and night switch built in to lock it in daylight mode should it be raining and you need lights on...}

Edited July 15, 2013 by Plymouthy Adams

[Oldguy48]

You know...I hadn't thought of different brightness levels for day/night.  It's a great idea, although I think I'll just stay with one level for mine.  Unless I get bored, and want to try something else.  Thanks for the idea.

 

Wayne

[HughForrest]

I like my '38 gauges too much to change anything, but I always admired the bakelite dash in the slightly newer ('41,'42?) New Yorkers. I couldn't do the real thing, but "Hydro-Graphics" got me a satisfying (to me) look:

 

 

 

Edited July 15, 2013 by HughForrest

[Young Ed]

Hugh that is awesome!

[HughForrest]

I forgot to put in the "Before" pic.

Here's what it was like years ago when I got the car:

 

 

...and the picture makes it look better than it really looked...

Edited July 15, 2013 by HughForrest

[greg g]

Is that the water borne film transfer???  A buddy got a bunch of the stuff in his MINI done about 5 years a go in burl cost him 75 cents a square inch.  I imagine is more these days.

[HughForrest]

Is that the water borne film transfer???  A buddy got a bunch of the stuff in his MINI done about 5 years a go in burl cost him 75 cents a square inch.  I imagine is more these days.

 

Yes it is. Here's a video of the basic process:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIBiG_u0_wA

 

They can do woodgrain, camo, carbon fiber, minerals, and about a zillion other looks nowadays. And that is multiplied by all the painted basecoat colors underneath.

 

I don't recall how much I paid, but I thought it reasonable at the time 7-8 years ago. The place that did mine is no longer in business anyway.

 

It looks like there are even DIY materials available now that weren't available then. I might try doing my steering wheel....

 

It is always a big hit at car shows as people like it, but can't figure out what it is.

[GlennCraven]

Some fantastic stuff in this thread. I'm surprised I've overlooked it until now.

 

Great ideas, guys, and in many cases great work in your own shops!

[knuckleharley]

Though I had mocked this up with an old rather pitted panel earlier, today I made the call and cut the re-plated center grill and kept my NOS panel in the box...the radio display head does not invade the dash area at all as it is flush with the speaker mounting surface at the rear...this has allowed me to have finger tip control and visual of the display at all times which is great as I had zero room for a in dash install due to the AC/HTR Defroster unit I also have placed in the car.

I really like the ac/heat vents right beside the speaker grille. Good idea that I will probably end up stealing.

[plyroadking]

I still dont see the point of digital gauges, if you want to have the modern car look and feel go buy one of the plastic fuel sipping toasters on wheels. Theres just something about walking up to an old car and seeing a blank black panel, reminds me of my grandparents old tv that died 30 years ago and never got thrown out. But I realize it might be hard for some people to understand an analog gauge and digital is probably much safer. Safety was not a huge issue when most of our cars were new, and some items should be addressed if you drive your car in everyday traffic. You guys probably want to be sitting down when you read this next part, I have modified my dash so that it is now equipped with a passenger side airbag! Not only does it absorb almost none of the impact but it's also occasionally self detaching for easier cleaning.

[alsancle]

Hugh that is awesome!

 

+1 on that